Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist (sigh).
An Interesting Year:
Chapter 2:
Ed became quickly of the questions that Hermione had started to ask. He knew she was just curious, but jeez, did the girl ever shut-up?! He made a mental note to be eternally grateful to Harry for changing the subject and distracting Hermione long enough for him to cool off. Besides, his mind was already preoccupied with other, more important, matters. That boy, Jacob Lamb, was Wrath, of that he was sure. But as to what the little snot was doing here… he was more than confused. It didn't help that his brain was sleep deprived from the traveling to get to this stupid school in the first place. He knew that if Wrath was here, either Envy or Sloth were sure to be close by.
The food on Ed's fork disappeared as he went to stick it in his mouth. He looked remorsefully at his, now empty, plate and silently groaned. This was so not his day.
He heard someone clear their throat and he looked up at the headmaster, who stood in front of the hall ready to give, what appeared to be, a speech. Ed looked away, uninterested, only listening with one ear as he tried to muddle through what, exactly, the homunculi were up to. He got so deep in his thoughts, in fact, that he was actually surprised when the people around him stood up and started talking, heading out of the hall and up to what, he assumed, to be their rooms. He stood up a few seconds behind everyone else and turned toward the head table, intent on talking to Mustang before bed.
"Hey Ed! Are you coming?" Edward looked back over his shoulder lazily to see Harry standing at the door waiting for him. He shook his head.
"I'll be up in a bit. I need to talk to Mustang for a second." Harry nodded and turned back to Ron and Hermione, all three heading out with the crowd. Ed turned back around and walked towards the front table where a irritable and tired-looking Roy Mustang was waiting for him, tapping his foot impatiently no less.
"This had better be important, Fullmetal." Mustang grunted out with a noticeable yawn. Ed nodded, impatient.
"Of course it is! You think I'd be sacrificing my time for sleeping if it wasn't!" Mustang rolled his eyes and waved his hand on as if to say 'continue'. Ed snorted, but went on. "Didn't you think that the Lamb kid looked the slightest bit familiar?" The Colonel shrugged.
"He looked a bit familiar. Why? Do you know him?" Ed bobbed his head with a grunt.
"He looks just like Wrath-the homunculus I fought before. Don't you remember him? Anyway, if Wrath is here I doubt he's alone."
"Why would Wrath come her in his regular form?" Mustang asked, now on high alert. He gazed around the room out of habit before focusing on Ed again. "What's your suggestion on how to handle this?" A glint sparkled in Ed's eyes.
"I suggest we hunt down and beat the little punk like the nasty little-" Roy sighed and held up his hand, stopping Ed mid-rant.
"Don't you think it would be a better idea to watch him first?" Ed grunted. "We can't go around making rash accusations. We will watch him first and try to capture him when the appropriate time presents itself, and only then. That's an order Major Elric." Roy finished sternly, noticing the defiant look on Ed's face.
"Yeah, yeah… whatever." Ed waved him off and sniffed, yawning a little.
"If that's all, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Fullmetal." Mustang walked past him and out the entranceway. Ed followed, dragging his sluggish legs out of the hall and slowly up the stairs.
The next morning, Edward slowly woke up and groaned, pulling aside one of the curtains on his four-poster bed. It was still dark out. Because of the necessity of keeping his automail right arm and left leg a secret, he knew he had very late nights and early mornings. Not exactly what he had wanted. He felt around on his beside table for his pocket-watch and opened it to check the time.
Six-thirty…
Way to freakin' early!
Classes didn't even start until nine!
Edward grunted quietly as he pulled himself out of his bed. He grabbed his blue uniform from where he had thrown it the night before and glared at it. He didn't know why they had to chose now for him to wear it. Even the Hogwarts uniforms were better! He grudgingly pulled it on and then stumbled down the steps, half-asleep, to the common room. Letting loose a yawn, Ed made his way over to his bag and pulled out some paper and a pen (he hated those stupid quills that the wizarding world seemed to favor, what, were they locked in the dark ages or something?!) and sat down at one of the tables scattered around the room and started to write with his left hand. When he finished, he put down the pen and began to read over it.
Dear Alphonse,
How are things going at home? I sure wish that I were there with you, although from what I hear this place has a massive library. I can't wait to check it out- who knows what might be in there? And Al? There's something really important that I need to tell you. There is this kid here who looks just like Wrath, and I'm sure that if he is Wrath, then the other homunculi aren't too far away. I don't know what they're planning, but it doesn't look good. I want you to be very careful and don't, under any circumstances. leave headquarters. Stay close to Hawkeye and the gang- I'm sure that they will protect you if anything happens. It's nearing seven and I have classes so I'll stop here. Write back quickly and stay safe Al.
Your older brother,
Edward Elric
Ed nodded to himself and stood up. He decided to mail the letter at lunch, and he put it in his pockets on his way out the portrait hole. He stretched his arms, hearing and feeling his back pop as he made his way slowly around the school. He had memorized the map that the headmaster had sent him, but he still wanted to better familiarize himself with his surroundings. He was wandering so long, in fact, that he didn't get down to the Great Hall for breakfast until eight-fifteen.
"Hey Ed, where have you been?" Harry asked as Ed sat down next to him and began to pile his plate with food.
"I decided to take a walk around the school to get a better feeling of what the castle is like." He answered with his mouth stuffed with food, which he ended up choking on when the owls flew in to deliver mail to their respective owners. Ed had just stopped coughing when a large barn owl decided to land on his head. His eye twitched as Harry coaxed the bird onto his arm. Harry removed the letter and let the bird fly away before handing it to Ed.
Mumbling under his breath, Ed took the letter and started reading. His face grew paler with each sentence he read. He finally realized what, exactly, he forgot to do.
Dear Edward,
Winry called. She wanted to talk to you about some new automail that she wanted to make for you and wanted me to take some measurements for her, but… well I couldn't exactly do that with you gone, so I told her you were asleep, but she got it out of me brother! She came to Central and threw a fit and the Fuhrer eventually just told her where you went. She's got Major Armstrong with her and she's on her way there. I would suggest hiding. Hope school's going okay though. Don't forget to write back and tell me all about it!
Wishing you luck,
Alphonse Elric
Ed gulped audibly and clenched his teeth. Surely Winry wouldn't be able to get here… right? This place was supposed to be hidden…
"Ed, are you alright?" Hermione asked, pulling Ed out of his daze. He cringed and nodded. Folding up the letter, he stood up, intent on making his way to the head table to talk with his commanding officer. He didn't even make it to his feet when the doors flew open with a loud bang. The entire hall fell silent as the noise echoed throughout and every head turned to see who, exactly, had disturbed the peace. Ed forced himself to look as well, even though he already suspected who it was, and his face turned even more white when he realized this was true.
A very ticked Winry Rockebell stood in the entranceway, fuming, with a, very scared, Alex Louis Armstrong in tow.
A/N: It took me a little longer for this one. Please R&R! The third chapter should be coming out this weekend! I'm setting up a poll, I need your opinion on whether this should be an EdWin story or not. Poll ends on Saturday! Thanks!
A/N: Hopefully, you can all see the difference between this and what was previously here. It's definitely much better than before, I believe.
Thanks to auPHE for working with me on these revisions! And thanks to everyone who continues to review and read this story, you're all amazing!!
I have a poll up currently on my profile for anyone interested.
Happy Reading!
EdElricFan1001